Thursday, February
21, 2013, 6:30 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “My Sheep” playing in my mind. Speak,
Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 10 (quoting selected verses in the NIV 1984):
He called his twelve
disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal
every disease and sickness… These twelve Jesus sent out with the following
instructions: “… As you go, preach this message: ‘The
kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who
have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give…
“If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words,
shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the
truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment
than for that town. I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be
as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
“Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the
local councils and flog you in their synagogues. On my account you will be
brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.
But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At
that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but
the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his
child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.
All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be
saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another…
“A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his
master. It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant
like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much
more the members of his household!
“So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that
will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you
in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim
from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the
soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the
ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head
are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
“Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge
him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will
disown him before my Father in heaven.
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth.
I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against
her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man’s enemies
will be the members of his own household.’
“Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not
worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy
of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of
me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake
will find it.
“He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me
receives the one who sent me... And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to
one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he
will certainly not lose his reward.”
The
Kingdom of Heaven
John the Baptist was sent by God to prepare
the way for the Lord Jesus and his earthly ministry, i.e. to prepare people’s
hearts for the Lord by preaching and baptizing for repentance. He preached “Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Jesus began his preaching ministry with the
message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” And,
Jesus told his disciples to go to the lost sheep of Israel and to preach, “The
kingdom of heaven is near.”
The kingdom of heaven entails many things,
yet Jesus was the embodiment of that kingdom. The kingdom is Jesus, it is his
life, ministry, death, resurrection, his salvation provided for mankind, the
gospel of Jesus Christ, the church – the body of Christ, eternal life with God,
Jesus’ return to earth one day and his millennial reign here on the earth as
King of kings and Lord of lords. So, John, Jesus and the disciples all preached
that the Messiah was near, their salvation was near, and that life in Jesus
Christ, their God, was near to the people and so was Jesus’ kingdom (a heavenly
and spiritual kingdom, not of men).
Opposition
and Apathy
So, when the disciples went out, they were to
preach not just these literal words, but the reality of what is behind these
words, I believe, i.e. they were to call the people to repent of their sins and
to turn to faith in Jesus Christ as their Messiah and Lord, and they were to call
the people to follow the Lord Jesus in obedience and in surrender to his will
for their lives. Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny himself,
take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and self) and follow (obey) him (see
Matt. 10:38; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23-25; Jn. 10:27).
They were to preach what Jesus taught them:
that anyone who loved his family members more than Jesus was not worthy of
Jesus, and that anyone who did not take his cross (die to self and sin) and
follow Jesus in going wherever he led them, and in doing whatever he commanded
them to do, is not worthy of Jesus. And, they were to teach, I believe, that
anyone who holds on to his own life (self-will and sin) will lose it for
eternity, but anyone who willingly gives up his or her life of self and sin for
Jesus Christ and his gospel will find it.
So, not everyone welcomed this message. Not
everyone wanted to lay everything down to follow Jesus Christ – to turn from
self and sin, to die to their ways of living their own lives the way they
choose, and to risk being hated, rejected, despised, and ostracized by their
friends, family and fellow citizens (and in this case fellow Jews). Not
everyone just jumped at the chance of being arrested on false charges and brought
before governors and kings for their testimony for Jesus Christ. Not all, I’m
sure, were thrilled with the idea that their brothers and sisters would hate
them, betray them, and persecute them - some to the death. And, I’m quite sure
they were not all delighted with the notion that they may even be accused of
being of Satan, such as Jesus was.
So, Jesus prepared his disciples for possible
or likely rejection of the message they were given to give to the people, and
he obviously prepared them for possible or likely very strong opposition to the
true gospel of Jesus Christ. He said he was sending them out like sheep among
wolves. That should give us a vivid picture of what it is like when we go out
with the true gospel among people who may strongly oppose it, and who may
vigorously fight against us. And, the strongest opponents of all may be among
our own family members, our friends, acquaintances and in particular among “the
lost sheep of Israel,” i.e. within the walls of the institutional church, and
even among its leadership. Not many are preaching such a gospel these days, because
it doesn’t “sell” well. And, it certainly does not draw in large crowds of
people or make the people feel like church is a fun place to be.
Shake
the Dust
So, what do we do when we preach the true
gospel of Jesus Christ, i.e. which includes the Biblical truth that repentance
(turning away from sin and toward Christ) and obedience to Christ (following
him) and his commands are necessary components of believing faith, as Jesus
taught his disciples, and as required for salvation (see Luke 9:23-25; Eph.
4:17-24), and then people reject the message? Or they hate us, persecute us,
falsely accuse us, arrest us and/or bring us to trial?
Jesus said that if they reject our message
(the true message of the gospel) that we are to shake the dust off our feet and
leave. Basically, this means that we shouldn’t keep on trying to force the
truth where it is not welcome, but we should just leave. He said when we are
persecuted in one place, we should flee to another. Now, I believe that just
because we face persecution, it does not mean we should give up, or just
because we face it from a few, that we should desert all. I believe this is
focused on specific locations or groups of people where the leadership or where
the majority have rejected the message and have stopped up their ears and have
refused to listen any longer. We should not beat a dead horse to death, but we
should move on to someplace else. This calls for wisdom and discernment.
We should also not be afraid of these possibilities
but should guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, taking every thought
captive and making it obedient to Christ, and we should daily put on the full
armor of God with which to fight against Satan’s evil schemes against us. We
should not worry about what is going to happen to us or what we will say when
the time comes, but we should entrust our lives into our Lord’s capable hands,
and believe that he will give us the strength, help, power, wisdom and words
when they are needed. Jesus said that one day the truth will all come out and
that everything that is disclosed now will come out into the open, so what he
speaks to us, we are to speak to others per his instructions, and we are not to
fear the people’s response. God is in control of all! He who stands firm to the
end will be saved, Jesus said.
My
Sheep / An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Based off John
10:1-18 NIV
My
sheep hear me. They know me.
They
listen to my voice and obey.
I
call them and lead them.
They
know my voice, so they follow me.
They
will never follow strangers.
They
will run away from them.
The
voice of a stranger they know not;
They
do not follow him.
So,
I tell you the truth that
I
am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever
does enter
Will
find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless
whoever enters
Not
by the gate; other way,
He
is the thief and a robber.
Listen
not, the sheep to him.
Oh,
I am the Good Shepherd,
Who
laid his own life down for the sheep.
I
know them. They know me.
They
will live with me eternally.
The
thief only comes to steal and
Kill
and to destroy the church.
I
have come to give you life that
You
may have it to the full.
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